24 August, 2011

Dahi Aloo Recipe: Baby Potatoes in Creamy Yogurt Gravy

Dahi Aloo/Baby Potatoes in Creamy Yogurt Gravy

The day started with a big bang! I had taken a day off from work, a much deserving one that is, and decided to make the most of it. My ‘much’ better half left to office and lil dumpling nicely settled in his day care, I had huge, I mean HUGE, plan for the day ahead. A quick call to my hair stylist to book an appointment for the evening, catch up with all the emails from friends, long chat session with my Amma, cook food in leisure, and a long soak in bubbles with my favourite drink and the book I have been wanting to read for ages! Everything was well planned to T!

Alas!!! Everything that I meticulously planned just went fling out of the window! My hair stylist was on sick leave, my laptop was attacked by unknown virus and crashed like it will never boot up again, Amma was out of town, and the book I wanted to read was no where to be found! At least I was hopeful about cooking some scrumptious food in leisure. So I went to the kitchen with full of spirit, tied the apron strings around my waist with full confident and peeked inside the pantry and fridge. After mulling over I took out the bag of new potatoes that we picked on our weekend trip to nearby farmer’s market and looked at the cute little spuds lovingly. From cooking delicious pot of Dum Aloo to one pot meal of Aloo Pulao to simple herb infused jacket potatoes, too many recipe ideas kept popping in my head. In the end my love for yogurt based curries took over all other recipe ideas and these new potatoes found their way in to one of my all the time favourite curries. It was the day for cooking creamy Dahi Aloo, a basic, simple recipe of potatoes cooked in lightly spiced yogurt gravy.

Steaming bowl of Dahi Aloo/Baby Potatoes in Creamy Yogurt Gravy

I cooked the potatoes and prepared the yogurt marinate in no time and with out any pause! I drained the water from potatoes and carried them to the dining table to remove their peels. I picked the first well formed little spud and slowly started to remove its peel with full enthusiasm. Peel, peel, peel, peel…peel… First one done and 14 more to go! Picked the second baby spud and started peeling it with enough ethusiasam. 2 minutes later and 2 peeled baby spuds, my ethusiasam had dropped 2 percent down after peeling stubborn, very, very thin peels that stuck like as if it was glued to the potatoes foe their dear life!!! by the time I finished peeling the eighth baby spud all that rosy pictures of cute little spuds covered in creamy yogurt felt like a day dream that may burst at any time… by the time I finished the tenth baby spud, that day dream looked like a nightmare! And I have no idea how I reached the phase of peeling the thirteenth one! By then my desire to cook anything, let alone elaborate meals had vanished in thin air! I didn’t go near the last two baby spuds and simply dumped them all in the yogurt marinate and coved the vessel with cling film and pushed it to the back of fridge. Huffing and puffing and irritated to the core I went upstairs to take a long shower and then headed take long morning nap. By the time I got up, it was well past afternoon nap! I just couldn’t believe that I had slept for good eight hours without any interruptions. It never happened in the last 2 years and may be that’s what I wanted all the time! A short uninterrupted sleep can seriously do wonders!!!

Refreshed and revived, and after a light meal of soup and salad, I removed the well marinated potatoes from fridge and proceeded to make Dahi Aloo. Flat 12 minutes later, a big bowl of delicious, creamy Dahi Aloo without any onion or garlic was ready. This is actually a fuss free recipe, except for the peeling baby potatoes part. Next time I may just leave the peels on or just use large potatoes instead. Since it was marinated for more than 8 hours, the baby potatoes absorbed all the spices and flavours and turned absolute delight! Simple, down to earth Dahi Aloo can be served with any flavoured or plain rice or you can also pair them with any Indian bread. Or if you are like me, you can simply have it as a delicious baby potato salad with few splashes of olive oil or cherry tomatoes!

Pierce the whole new or baby potatoes with knife or fork and cook them in pressure cooker or heavy bottomed vessel with enough water. Once cooked thoroughly and cooled a bit, peel them and keep them aside. If using large potatoes, dice them to 1 inch cubes.

Now prepare the yogurt marinate by mixing all the ingredients listed above. Add the potatoes to the yogurt marinate, and mix them well so that each potato is coated well. Cover the vessel with cling film and refrigerate overnight (8-9 hours) or at least for 1-2 hours.

Heat oil in pan and add cumin seeds and hing. When cumin seeds starts to crackle and turn light golden, add dried fenugreek leaves and let it cook for half a minute in medium flame.

Add marinated potatoes along with any left over marinade and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring all the while, till small bubble starts to appear. Make sure that you stir the curry all the while so that it doesn’t curdle.

Remove from the flame and let it rest for ten minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves if desired and serve this creamy Dahi Aloo with plain or flavoured rice or any Indian flat breads.

Dahi Aloo/Baby Potatoes in Creamy Yogurt Gravy

Dahi Aloo/Baby Potatoes in Creamy Yogurt Gravy

Sia’s Notes:

Addition of cashew nut paste is optional. I have used it to give the gravy a rich taste and also it helps in preventing the yogurt from curdling. It also lends creamy texture to the gravy.

If the yogurt you are using is too thick, just add ¼ - ½ cup of water to get thick pouring consistency.

Namaste! I am Sia and welcome to Monsoon Spice, my virtual home. Thank you for all your comments, inputs and feedback. I really appreciate the valuable time you spent browsing through my recipe repertoire.

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About Sia

Born in India and raised in fun and food loving family, I currently reside in UK with my better half and my two babies, five years old son and nine years old food blog. My cooking style has strong root in Indian culture and at the same time embraces the world cuisine with equal passion. With never ending love for food, spice and life, I am passionate about cooking and making Indian food less intimidating, healthy and easy to cook which reflects in my blog Monsoon Spice which has been ranked one among Top Indian food blogs. Read more…

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